Saturday, October 5, 2024

Do I Believe In No-Go Areas Existing In Germany?

 In 1978, around any part of Germany....I just didn't see no-go zones.  You could have taken me to Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich or Koln....day or night, and I would have seen nothing much to suggest a no-go zone.

After cocaine came along in the mid-1980s....there's some point existing where you just notice more scenes existing that suggest increased petty-crime...more drug use, and a slightly higher threat existing.  It was barely worth mentioning.

After the Wall came down (early 1990s)?  You just start to notice other little factors in the mix.  The drug scene has increased....more addicts on the street....more homeless.  

The side-issue?  Well....you could venture into 10,000 smaller towns/villages, and see absolutely no reason to dream up a no-go scenario. 

So, this all went into a weird 'index' of urbanization.  Where you had some town of a population of 200,000 or more....you would  identify parts of the towns that were in some way....a no-go zone.   The two key factors?  Usually this zone had  high counts of addicts in the mix, and were near a train-station.  After a while,  you added the other index.....that things were relative to day-time or night-time.

After a while (especially in the Covid-era)....you could also see a higher presence of police.  I'm not saying 24 hours a day....just that you could walk around the Frankfurt train station....see an occasional police patrol, and then on some rare occasion....see a addict grab a purse, and watch a patrol get alerted....to give chase.

The mix of migrants into this 'index'?  Well....in the past decade, you can make the case that areas of metropolitan cities are affected by this....but the usual quiet communities of 20,000 residents don't have this problem.

If you asked me of no-go areas of Wiesbaden (population of 285k)....I'd take your map, and draw three red circles....places to avoid after dark (particularly after 10 PM).  Frankfurt?  I'd probably draw four red circles (same story, particularly after 10 PM).  

Train-stations a magnet?  Well.....more so to the mentally ill, for some odd reason.

The public becoming disgruntled?  I'd say.....just looking at Frankfurt....if you polled adults, more than a quarter of society want things cleaned up.   Reaction of the city council or police?  It's mostly that they'd like to find a 'friendly-program' take removes addicts in a happy-friendly way, and they've yet to find the vehicle to remove the stigma creating no-go zones.

A Germany-only trend? No....I can see the same trend in Den Haag, Amsterdam, and Rome. 

Just a humble observation.

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